• Six Hours of The Glen follows heartbreaking 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Garcia, Magnussen 2014 GTLM winners at The Glen
• Gavin, Milner look to mount points push after hard luck first half of 2019
Corvette Racing returns to home soil this weekend with aims of continuing its championship push in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and putting behind the agonizing heartbreak from the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen marks Corvette Racing’s resumption of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) title chase, the last event in the U.S. coming in early May at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The Glen – at 3.4 miles with 11 turns – is the first of five events in a nine-week span for the Corvette program and its pair of Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs.

Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen, winners together at Watkins Glen in 2014, return to IMSA competition second in GTLM points on the strength of consecutive podium finishes at Sebring, Long Beach and Mid-Ohio.
It is the same formula they used to win the 2018 GTLM title – their second in a row – and part of their podium streak included a runner-up finish at The Glen.

Garcia and Magnussen – who will make his 150th start with Corvette Racing at The Glen – will drive the same Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R that they shared at Le Mans with Mike Rockenfeller.
The trio came within three hours of winning the GTE Pro category, having it all go wrong with bad luck during a safety car period and a subsequent crash that eventually relegated the Corvette to a ninth-place finish.
On the flip side, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner will race at Watkins Glen in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R but it will be a different chassis than what they used at Le Mans and in the first part of the IMSA season.
A heavy crash in the sixth hour at Le Mans heavily damaged their car, which they shared with Marcel Fässler.

As a result, the Corvette Racing crew has been forced to prepare its third C7.R chassis the same one that raced earlier this year in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 1,000-mile race at Sebring – for Gavin and Milner.
It’s yet another challenge for the team with a short turn-around time to get from Le Mans back to the United States and both cars prepped and ready… all within the span of a few days.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen begins at 9:45 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 30.
It will air live on the NBC Sports app beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET with same-day coverage on NBC Sports Network at 7 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage of practices, qualifying and the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"The challenge (of going from Le Mans to Watkins Glen) is for the team, I have to say.
To turn around those two Corvettes and be ready to 100 percent in 10 days is the biggest challenge. For us drivers to compete at Le Mans and Watkins Glen is not such a big difference.
All the pressure is on the team and the crew. As we’ve proven in years past, we’ve been able to win Le Mans and The Glen. I think the transition back to IMSA rules is easier. Going back home to go racing is like riding a bicycle.
Everyone knows what to do. If everything is ready, changing the mindset is easy. I’m really looking forward to this race because it’s one of the best tracks on the calendar. We’re going through a period of Le Mans, Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park… it’s a very nice run of three tracks in a row."

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"We’re in good shape in the GTLM Championship P2 at the moment. We’re looking for a win but another championship would be nice.
That is the main focus, but it has been awhile since our last win. We were hoping it would come at Le Mans but it wasn’t in the cards.
We’ll have to wait and go for another one at Watkins Glen."

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"We’re going from a track where you are effectively running the lightest on downforce at Le Mans to most probably one of the tracks that we run if you can the heaviest downforce.
At Watkins Glen it’s all about building your speed and momentum to carry it through the lap.
There’s a ton of grip out there and a lot of high-speed cornering at Watkins Glen. It’s quite different than Le Mans. It clicks you back into the IMSA season.
It’s usually our biggest crowd at the Corvette Corral and always get a fantastic amount of support there.
We get such a buzz from seeing everyone there and seeing all their cars from C1 all the way up to C7.
As a racetrack, it is a huge challenge six hours for two drivers and one of the physically toughest we do all year."

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED EIGHTH IN GTLM:

"For us as drivers, coming back from Le Mans going straight in to one of our biggest races of the year in IMSA is a challenge.
We always say the Monday after Le Mans is when we start thinking about next year’s race, but we also understand that we still have half of the WeatherTech Championship to go. We’re all mindful of that and the challenges it presents.
When you consider that you have a rough Le Mans – and we did this year you go back to the U.S. with a renewed amount of eagerness to right the wrongs of what may have happened at Le Mans.
It’s the spirit of this team to make each event count."

2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM Standings (After Four of 11 Events)

Driver Standings

1. Earl Bamber/Laurens Vanthoor – 126
2. Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen – 119
3. Nick Tandy/Patrick Pilet – 117
4. Connor De Phillippi – 83
5. Dirk Mueller/Sebastien Bourdais – 108
7. Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 99

Team Standings

1. No. 912 Porsche GT Team – 126
2. No. 3 Corvette Racing – 119
3. No. 911 Porsche GT Team – 117
4. No. 25 BMW Team RLL – 111
5. No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi – 108
7. No. 4 Corvette Racing – 99

Manufacturer Standings

1. Porsche – 100
2. BMW – 91
3. Ford – 90
4. Chevrolet – 88

C7R Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin says this weekend’s Sahlen’s 6 Hours of The Glen will be one of the most physically demanding races on the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, as the team seeks its first race win since April last year !

That win on the streets of Long Beach was scored by Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, while their teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia eventually grabbed last year’s GT Le Mans title without reaching victory lane.
Their last win came at VIRginia International Raceway in 2017.

The venerable C7.Rs, now in their sixth year of competition, return to the 3.4-mile 11-turn Watkins Glen road course after a near-miss victory at Le Mans, with Garcia/Magnussen sitting second in the championship, and Gavin/Milner in 7th, albeit only 20 further points behind.
Gavin and Milner will be racing a different chassis than they have through the first part of the IMSA season after their co-driver Marcel Fassler’s heavy shunt at Le Mans following a clash with an Amateur driver.

Instead they will steer the car that Corvette Racing entered as a one-off in the WEC’s Sebring 1000 mile race in March.
Gavin:
“We’re going from a track where you are effectively running the lightest on downforce at Le Mans to most probably one of the tracks that we run if you can the heaviest downforce.
At Watkins Glen it’s all about building your speed and momentum to carry it through the lap.
There’s a ton of grip out there and a lot of high-speed cornering at Watkins Glen
“As a racetrack, it is a huge challenge six hours for two drivers and one of the physically toughest we do all year.”

Milner:

“We always say the Monday after Le Mans is when we start thinking about next year’s race, but we also understand that we still have half of the WeatherTech Championship to go.
We’re all mindful of that and the challenges it presents. When you consider that you have a rough Le Mans and we did this year you go back to the U.S. with a renewed amount of eagerness to right the wrongs of what may have happened at Le Mans.
It’s the spirit of this team to make each event count.”

Garcia and Magnussen, who won this race in a run of four straight victories for the then new C7.R back in 2014, has scored podiums in the last three rounds of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech championship, and this race will mark Magnussen’s 150th race for the team.

He said:
“We’re in good shape in the GTLM Championship P2 at the moment. We’re looking for a win but another championship would be nice. That is the main focus.

“But it has been a while since our last win. We were hoping it would come at Le Mans but it wasn’t in the cards.
We’ll have to wait and go for another one at Watkins Glen.”
Garcia praised the squad for the turnaround since Le Mans, commenting:
“The challenge is for the team, I have to say. To turn around those two Corvettes and be ready to go 100 percent in 10 days is the biggest challenge.

For us drivers to compete at Le Mans and Watkins Glen is not such a big difference. All the pressure is on the team and the crew.
“I’m really looking forward to this race because it’s one of the best tracks on the calendar.
We’re going through a period of Le Mans, Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park it’s a very nice run of three tracks in a row.”

Six hours of Glen qualify results for Sunday's race

Reigning GT Le Mans class champion Antonio Garcia produced an outstanding lap in the #3 Corvette C7.R he shares with Jan Magnussen to beat the Ford GTs of Richard Westbrook and Joey Hand by a clear margin,
even before Hand got pinged for a track limit violation that saw him demoted to fifth. Westbrook was 0.317sec off Garcia’s 1min40.799sec benchmark.

Hand’s problem left Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette C7.R in 3rd, albeit half a second slower than his teammate, and only 0.01sec faster than John Edwards’ well-driven BMW M8.

Antonio Garcia captured his first pole of the season for Corvette Racing with a lap of 1m40.799s in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R.
“I’m really happy for Chevrolet,” Garcia said.
“Finally, we’ve got something that is good, so hopefully it’s something for turning around tomorrow and starting to win races again.”
Garcia credited the team, which changed engines on Friday after missing the opening practice session.

“It was very tough to lose all of first practice, but that’s why we have the other car,” Garcia said. “The No. 4 car did a fantastic job, so we took what they did and just put it on our car.

Everything seems to be working, as you saw. It’s always a team effort.
I am very happy with the way the car behaved today, so I’m excited for the start tomorrow.”
The Corvette Racing entries sandwiched the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs. Richard Westbrook was second in the No. 67, 1m41.116, followed by Tom Milner in the No. 4 Corvette, 1m41.291s.

Joey Hand was originally third, but lost his best lap in the No. 66 Ford GT due to a track limits violation.
That demoted Hand to fifth, while promoting the BMW Team RLL No. 24 BMW M8 GTLM of John Edwards to the outside of the front row.
Hand’s was one of several penalties for violating the limits in Turns 1 and 8 that were assessed during the session.

If Saturday’s qualifying session for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International is any indication, the race in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class Sunday may come down to a good, old-fashioned battle between Corvette and Ford.
Throughout the 15-minute session, the top spot on the leaderboard switched hands a remarkable eight times with the car in every occasion coming from the Corvette Racing or Ford Chip Ganassi Racing camps.

When all was said it done, however, it was the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Antonio Garcia who topped the No. 67 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook by 0.317 seconds for Corvette Racing’s first pole of the season.

Garcia and Westbrook swapped the lead five times between the two of them in the final eight minutes, as lap times continued to fall throughout the session before Garcia landed the knockout punch with a lap of one minute, 40.799 seconds (121.429 mph).
“You always need to be careful around Richard because he is always really fast,” said Garcia.
“The guys did a really good job telling me what he was doing and everything.

That gave me the opportunity the first time to cool down and then I could go again because I had more, as I showed on the last lap.

“I’m really happy for Chevrolet. Finally, we got something that is good, so hopefully it’s something for turning around tomorrow and starting to win races again.”
A win tomorrow for Garcia and his co-driver Jan Magnussen would be an historic one for Corvette Racing.
The team has long been in search of its 100th IMSA victory, scoring win No. 99 in April 2018 at Long Beach.
Garcia and Magnussen’s winless streak dates back even further to VIRginia International Raceway in August 2017, but remarkable consistency for the No. 3 team has led the duo to back-to-back GTLM class championships.

So far in 2019, Garcia and Magnussen sit second in points with three consecutive podium finishes and back-to-back runner-up finishes.
Another Corvette C7.R, the No. 4 of Tommy Milner rounded out the top three with a lap of 1:41.291 (120.839 mph), just short of Westbrook’s lap of 1:41.116 (121.049 mph).
The No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of John Edwards broke up the Chevrolet/Ford party by qualifying fourth, one spot ahead of Joey Hand’s No. 66 Ford GT in fifth.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen will be televised Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with live streaming of the race in its entirety starting at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App.
IMSA Radio also will have live coverage throughout the weekend on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com with complete race coverage also airing on SiriusXM Radio (Sirius Channel 218/XM Channel 202/Streaming 972).

Corvette Racing’s return from the 24 Hours of Le Mans took an overwhelmingly positive turn Saturday as Antonio Garcia scored a class pole position and teammate Tommy Milner qualified third Saturday ahead of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Garcia, driving the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R with Jan Magnussen, set a track record in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) category with a lap of 1:40.799 (121.429 mph) that bettered the previous mark by more than a half-second. The 2014 GTLM Watkins Glen winner with Magnussen,
Garcia was 0.317 seconds clear of the field Saturday. They enter Sunday second in the GTLM Drivers’ Championship.

Teammate Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R qualified third in class at 1:41.291 (120.839 mph).
It puts the two bright yellow Corvettes lined up one behind the other on Sunday’s grid.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours marks Corvette Racing’s first event in IMSA following the 24 Hours of Le Mans two weeks ago.
It was a bittersweet race with both Corvettes showing race-winning pace but ultimately getting the worst of the luck with two crashes that took away any hopes of a victory of podium.
The Gavin/Milner Corvette is a different car than they drove at Le Mans following Marcel Fässler’s heavy crash six hours in.
This weekend’s No. 4 Corvette is the chassis they drove to the 2016 IMSA GTLM Championship and four victories.

The bad luck from Le Mans struck the No. 3 Corvette on Friday with a precautionary engine change during the first Watkins Glen practice.
The Corvette Racing crew completed the work in plenty of time for the day’s second practice, and the drivers repaid the efforts with a banner day Saturday.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER:

"You always have to be careful with Richard (Westbrook, second-quickest qualifier) because he is always very, very fast. Kyle (Millay, No. 3 Corvette race engineer) did a really good job of telling me what Richard was doing and that gave me an opportunity to cool down so I could go again.
So I had more to give as I showed on the last lap. I am happy for Corvette and Chevrolet.
And finally we have something which is good for tomorrow and we can turn it around and start winning races.”

(On engine change after Friday first practice): "It was very tough to lose an engine in first practice, but that is why we have the other Corvette.
The No. 4 car did a fantastic job of doing all the work that is supposed to be divided between both cars.
All the work they’ve done we put in our car and everything seems to be working as you saw.
It is always a team effort and I’m very happy with how the car behaved today and I hope this is a good start for tomorrow."

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – QUALIFIED THIRD IN GTLM:

"This was a great qualifying for the team. I’m pretty amazed at what this team can do coming off a week-and-a-half break from Le Mans really less than that for the crew guys and engineers.
To go P1 and P3 is awesome for the whole group, and also for the No. 4 Corvette guys having to prep a car that sort of wasn’t set up for GTLM. To get that going and go P3 is awesome.
For sure I’m happy with the effort from the team and the car. As always we have a bit of work to do, but certainly third place is a great place to start the race tomorrow."

Seconds after the green flag, the No. 4 Corvette C7.R. of Tommy Milner spun in Turn 4 after side-to-side contact with the No. 912 Porsche of Lance Vanthoor in the high-speed Esses.

Ben Keating clipped the stopped Corvette into the No. 33 Wynn’s Team Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 and spun.

Both the Corvette and Mercedes were finished for the day,
while Ryan Hardwick in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing 1st Phorm Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and Zach Robichon in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R were forced to pit after running over debris.

Running order after 1 hour of the 6 hours

End of Race

Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen finished on the podium for the fourth consecutive race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) class Sunday with a runner-up finish in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

The No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R finished just 0.452 seconds behind the class-winning Porsche, and the Garcia/Magnussen duo claimed their third straight podium at Watkins Glen International.
The day included an added bonus: Garcia and Magnussen are a single point of the GTLM Drivers’ Championship as they seek their third consecutive title.

The news on the other side of the Corvette Racing garage wasn’t as good.
Tommy Milner suffered contact and crashed on the opening lap in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C7.R, ending the day for him and teammate Oliver Gavin.

The damage to the Corvette was extensive but the team will have the No. 4 entry repaired for this week’s Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The Corvette Racing crew faced a similar rush job after a heavy crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans forced the team to switch chassis for the No. 4 Corvette ahead of Watkins Glen.

Down to one entry, the Corvette Racing team soldiered on and very nearly pulled off a storybook ending.
Garcia and Magnussen led Sunday’s race four times but a call to pit ahead of a full-course yellow that never came seemingly put the No. 3 Corvette on the back foot to the end.

Magnussen, making his 150th start for Corvette Racing, drove the middle three stints and gave the Corvette back to Garcia for the final two hours and 40 minutes.
A final full-course yellow set the stage for the late-race charge from seventh to very nearly a long-awaited victory.

There is little time to rest. Corvette Racing’s next event is the Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix on Sunday, July 7 from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM:

"I can’t be super, super happy about the result. I think we had this race.
We have such a strong field. We took one part of the strategy away thinking there would be a yellow when one didn’t come.
The race was split then between half of the field and us. We could gain back some spots but when we restarted after the last yellow, we didn’t have track position.
To be sixth or seventh in this field and try to win with an hour to go is tough.

At the end of the day, we didn’t make it. It was a good call to top off the car on the last yellow to give me a chance to jump both Porsches at the end, but the big thing is that the winning Porsche was too far up the road.
I don’t know what’s worse ending up six or seven seconds off or three-tenths off. I think it hurts more to finish so close. But it’s good points and we’ll take that."

“We had a shot at it today, but we are just missing that last little bit. I am happy for the team and happy for the points.
But it’s been awhile since our last win. We keep getting so close but it is getting hard to come up with excuses. We just need to go out there and do it get that win.
I am very happy with how the whole team performed.
We could not have done much better. So we will just go on to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, another fantastic track, and see if we can get a win there."

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R:

"It’s not a cliché, it’s how I feel it’s disappointing and unnecessary.
It was the first lap of the race and going side-by-side which should have been and is possible. Hindsight is 20-20. Knowing the Porsche didn’t check up enough to allow us to go two-wide he said he gave some consideration but it wasn’t enough.
I’d love to say we could rewind it, I’d give up the position and we’re still racing.
And if he had given me a little more room than we’re also still racing, too. It’s these split-second decisions we have to make.
Unfortunately I got penalized for someone’s small mistake and that’s what it was:

a small mistake that ended up a big problem for us. A big thanks again to Corvette for building such a strong car.
But I feel bad for our Corvette Racing guys. We were here and ready to go racing, but we’ve had some really bad luck the last couple months.
I feel bad they have to put in more hard work and a lot of hours to get the car ready for Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
But that’s our focus."

C7.R’s program manager Doug Fehan says that luck is 50% of racing, but unfortunately for the Number 4 Corvette C7.R, it has been the bad variety that has struck the team again at Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.
The Number 4 Corvette C7.R started in 3rd position with Tommy Milner behind the wheel.
On the opening lap of the race, the 912 Porsche made contact with the Corvette which spun the car into a retaining wall.

The Corvette suffered massive damage in the crash and the car was retired.
The crash couldn’t have come at a worse time for the team.

Following the crash of the Number 64 C7.R at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team reverted to the backup chassis for Watkins Glen.
Now the crew has just six days to repair the car in time for the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix held July 5-7th at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario.
Quote regarding the incident from Tommy Milner:

“It’s not a cliché, it’s how I feel it’s disappointing and unnecessary.

It was the first lap of the race and going side-by-side which should have been and is possible.
Hindsight is 20-20. Knowing the Porsche didn’t check up enough to allow us to go two-wide he said he gave some consideration but it wasn’t enough.
I’d love to say we could rewind it, I’d give up the position and we’re still racing.
And if he had given me a little more room than we’re also still racing, too.
It’s these split-second decisions we have to make. Unfortunately I got penalized for someone’s small mistake and that’s what it was: a small mistake that ended up a big problem for us.

A big thanks again to Corvette for building such a strong car. But I feel bad for our Corvette Racing guys.
We were here and ready to go racing, but we’ve had some really bad luck the last couple months.
I feel bad they have to put in more hard work and a lot of hours to get the car ready for Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
But that’s our focus.”